Ramsey doesn’t buy FONCE gambit

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey isnâ€™t buying into Gov. Bredesenâ€™s argument that closing the family-owned non-corporate entity, or FONCE, exemption for rental income from commercial real estate is necessary to keep jobs in law enforcement.

The governor says that unless the legislature closes this â€œloophole,â€ the administration will have to cut 329 jobs in the courts and public safety, including 121 state troopers.

But speaking to the press gaggle after Bredesenâ€™s budget address last night, Ramsey said the estimated $25 million raised by the tax change could have been spent on just about anything.

You can use budgetary tricks any way you want to. You can say any tax increase is used to pay for something else, and all youâ€™re really doing is drawing money out of the bottom and sliding it over into that column, so I donâ€™t know what itâ€™s going to be used for. Thatâ€™s irrelevant in my opinion.â€

Ramsey said he expected a compromise that would not tax income from smaller FONCEs.